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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Who is Maher Zain??

Salam Alayk~

I'm sorry for I'm still in Maher Zain's concert fever..I know that most of you still wondering, who is Maher Zain?

Maher Zain at AUC

I could still remember the first time I heard his name was a few months ago. I'm not sure exactly when or where but if I'm not mistaken I heard one of my housemate singing a very beautiful song. Then she introduced me to 'Insha Allah' by Maher Zain. Frankly speaking, I'm not so into nasheed because it's quite hard to find a nice one nowadays* but listening to Maher Zain's songs doesn't make me feel like I'm listening to any nasheeds. The lyrics are so meaningful and inspiring, and the music arrangements are great.

Last Eid Adha, one of my friends showed me a video clip 'Palestine Will Be Free'. Then I fall into Maher Zain's music deep more. And I became curious to know his background. So here i wanna share the biography of Maher Zain. (copied from Maher Zain's FB)

Maher's first musical inspiration came from his father, who was a singer himself, performing locally in the beautiful Mediterranean city of Tripoli - Lebanon (On his concert a few days ago, he said that he is from Turkey). Fascinated by the music and instruments, Maher got his first keyboard when he was only ten and ever since music officially became part of Maher's world.

The family moved to Sweden when Maher was only 8, where he continued his schooling, and later entered university and got a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering. With things changing around him, one thing remained the same - his strong passion for music. He would spend late nights at school with his friends where they would sing, rap, compose and experiment with music in every way.

It didn't take him long to realize that music became an integral part of who he is. After being involved for a while in the music scene in Sweden as a music producer, Maher was introduced to RedOne, a gifted music producer who was fast rising in the music scene in Sweden.

Maher started working with RedOne with Swedish artists, and later moved with him to New York. For a few years he was in the middle of the hot rush of the NY music industry, working with chart topping artists such as Kat Deluna on her debut album which included smash hits 'Whine up' and 'Run the Show'.

Maher had what many would describe as a dream job for someone so young in such a glamorous business, but for Maher it felt like this was far from what he would call 'the dream',

"I loved the music but I hated everything that surrounded it, it always felt like something wasn't right".

RedOne was on the verge of breaking into the big time, going on to work with artists like Akon, Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Brandy, New Kids on the Block, and Michael Jackson to mention just a few, and becoming one of the most sought-after music producers in the world. Maher however was restless and eventually decided that the music industry and all that surrounded wasn't the right place for him and he returned to Sweden.

It wasn't until he met a group of brothers who were active in the Islamic community in Stockholm and he started regularly attending his local mosque that he felt like he'd reached' home'. Maher feels blessed to able to finally find the right way, and feels like it's his turn now to help others through his music to do the same:

"If I had one thing I'd like to tell people out there it would be that it's so easy to see the right way if we just open our eyes and look properly; that's what happened to me." - Maher Zain

Maher Zain's message :

"I believe that each and every one of us is born with something that he or she is especially good at, and that is one of the many gifts Allah has granted us.Our responsibility is first to recognize that special gift, develop it, and use it for good and not for evil."

"I believe Allah gave me a gift of loving music. I misused this gift for a long time, but after a long journey through life i realized what I'm supposed to do with this gift, and finally I chose to use it in a way that I believe pleases Allah."

"We should never belittle ourselves or our talents; we all have that something that we're especially good at, we just need to find it, develop it and use it for the good of our society, use in in the way that pleases Allah.May Allah always guide and protect us, Amin." - Maher Zain -

Now her is my message : If you haven't listen to any of his song yet, you should do so. Listen with heart, open your eyes and mind. You will feel refreshed.

I fall in love with his lyrics. Make me non-stop crying coz realize that Allah is always by my side. Insya Allah all of us will find d way, Allah will guide us, just don't forget to pray & ask from Him. Alhamdulillah & thanks to Maher for a such beautiful song.